Friday, October 12, 2007

Policy and a Pint

So a month ago, an undisclosed friend (you'll see why in a minute) told me about this awesome event called Policy and a Pint that's going on next Tuesday. It sounds like it's going to be a good discussion - focusing more on the economic aspects of environmentalism than anything. I've always thought that environmentalism must be rooted in sound economic practice to have any sort of lasting effect (though I haven't read one of the highest-regarded books on the subject). You can't ask people to sacrifice a way of life just to stop global warming, but now there are benefits to driving a hybrid over a hummer (for example) because what was once marginal (gas prices) now looms large.

(note to self: upcoming counter-intuitive post on why hybrids are actually bad for the environment)

Anyway, so this event sounds fun, right? Will you be in Minneapolis and would like to go with me? Well, TOO BAD. Pre-registration is over.

Now, I understand the benefits of pre-registration. You need to estimate how many people will be there, how much money you'll take in, proper girl-boy ratio, etc. But there is no excuse for not even mentioning pre-registration on your website until it is too late! I checked it when I first heard about this event, and there was ZERO mention of pre-registration! So now, instead of taking off work a couple minutes early to listen to an awesome discussion and enjoy some hops and barley, I can take off work a couple minutes early to get on a waiting list, and pray to the gods of intellectualism that I can sacrifice my hard-earned 10 bucks to learn something??

So anyway, this undisclosed friend apparently learned about this pre-registration through some non-internet sources. Non-internet sources? What is this, 1990? She probably reads a newspaper too, LOL. Anyway, said undisclosed friend "pre-registers", yet neglects to tell other interested friends about this "pre-registration" process. It's the equivalent of saying, "Oh, I'll make you a really tasty cheeseburger this Tuesday, October 16 at 5:30 p.m., but then I'll eat it and leave you with nothing, sorry" Talk about kicking a man while he's zipping his fly, sheesh. And, randomly, USC football sucks. BOOYAH

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok- so this undisclosed friend needs to defend herself. First of all, I did learn about the pre-registration on the same website that you went to. Sorry for being more observant even though you are the one that critiques websites for fun. No, I didn't tell anyone else because like all registrations that don't involve a down payment, I assumed they just wanted my email address so they can show prospective investors/advertisers that they have a lot of people on their mailing list. I didn't even really think it held my spot. Since you are so upset, you can take my spot and I will chance it on the waiting list even though you had to bring USC into this. Not everyone who RSVPs will show up.

A said...

Ooh, sick burn anonymous, great work! Also, in my not-so-strongly-worded email to these people, I pointed out that if I missed it on the website, I'm an idiot and was sorry.

But I don't want your spot in line, I'll chance it alone, waiting in that cruel, inhospitable area known as Dinkytown. Honestly, I'm not too worried about getting in, seeing as most students who registered will be in their dorm rooms playing Halo 3...I just wanted to rant about something.

carson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
carson said...

You're totally right, Halo 3 is super fun.

Anonymous said...

Hey there - this is Victoria from the Citizens League, one of the organizers of the event. I'm sorry that the pre-registration was confusing, but I hope that you came - as it turned out, everyone on the waiting list got in.

We ask for pre-registration so we know how to set up the room - the Varsity can do an event for 25 people or for 300, but the setup needs to be really different. We ask for email addresses so that we can contact folks about the event (this time, for example, when we realized that it was going to sell out, we emailed everyone who had pre-registered to tell them that they needed to be there by 5:50 to guarantee their seat). When you sign up you can choose to get on our mailing list but we don't add people without their permission.

Thanks! Hope you came, and hope you enjoyed it. This was one of my favorite of these events so far.

Victoria